Transport links across the North need ‘immediate and very significant investment' and a plan for longer-term transformation, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has said.
The NIC has published its third report High Speed North, which argues that HS3 needs to be ‘kick-started’ and that road investment ‘should be brought forwards for an early boost in capacity on the M62’.
It comes after another recent NIC report on London, which called for immediate action on Crossrail 2.
Chancellor George Osborne is expected to back many of the NIC’s recommendations in Wednesday’s budget, including providing funding for Crossrail 2 and Trans-Pennine rail improvements.
Although the latest NIC report says HS3 is the ‘higher speed, higher capacity, higher frequency’ East-West rail network the North needs, it adds that it ‘will inevitably need to be delivered in phases’.
The NIC says the ‘crucial’ Trans-Pennine route between Manchester and Leeds should be prioritised for development, with journey time cut from 49 minutes to 40 minutes by 2022 and eventually to 30 minutes.
However engineers have called for ‘more ambition’ to achieve Mr Osborne’s ‘Northern Powerhouse’.
Richard Threlfall, chair of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Northern Powerhouse Steering Group, said: ‘The Commission’s support for developing HS3 is encouraging, but we would like to see more ambition. Transformational change requires bold thinking, including an entirely new dedicated high-speed line, and a door-to-door journey between the centres of Leeds and Manchester quicker than the currently proposed 30 minutes.’
Lord Adonis said: ‘If the North is to become a powerhouse it has to be better connected. Leeds and Manchester are just forty miles apart but there is no quick and easy way to travel between the two. In rush hour it can take more than two hours by car, by train it can be almost an hour.
‘So we should kick start HS3 across the Pennines and slash journey times to just 30 minutes. But we must not wait decades for change - journey times should be cut to 40 minutes by 2022.’
In a radio interview, Lord Adonis contrasted this staged approach with the 'big bang' of HS2.
The Commission calls on Network Rail, in conjunction with Transport for the North (TfN) and the Department for Transport (DfT), to prepare a plan by the end of 2017 to achieve this.
At the same time, it says, TfN should work with Network Rail, DfT and HS2 Limited to prepare a single integrated strategy linking improved Trans-Pennine rail links with the design of the northern phase of the HS2 network and proposals for redeveloping Manchester Piccadilly station.
On roads, the report calls for ‘very substantial capital’ funding to be brought forward to allow Highways England to bring in capacity enhancements to the M62 between Liverpool and Manchester two years ahead of schedule and ‘significantly fast track’ similar work between Manchester and Leeds.
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